Kingdom
by JJ2
Summary: Well, I'll bet nobody thought Sarah would turn out like this. . . .(Formatting all fixed!)
1. Default Chapter

****  
  
Standard Disclaimer: Labyrinth and all the characters from the film are owned by the Henson company, and are used here without permission. This is a fan-fic, done for fun and practice, and I'm not looking to make any money off it. Please do not use or post without my permission. Much thanks to Luna. This story is dedicated to Tim, Todd, and Mai.  
  
Notes: Previously posted and archived at the Crazy Attic Labyrinth Fanfiction site. Still in progress (Yes, still). Will finish it someday, with the proper encouragement.  
  
****  
  
Kingdom  
  
By J.J.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Toby hated Monday mornings. Monday mornings meant that the weekend was completely and unarguably over. Monday morning's meant Aunt Kaye was dishing out cold cereal for breakfast. Monday mornings meant that Sarah's cel-phone was going to start ringing again. And again.  
  
BRRR-EEEEPP!  
  
Toby hated Monday mornings.  
  
Dimly, he heard Sarah babbling on the phone about figures and shipments and deadlines. Disgusted, Toby glared at the wall clock hanging across from his bed. It was 5:30 AM. Couldn't those corporate buzzards at least wait until his sister had eaten breakfast? Even Aunt Kaye was probably still in bed. He got out of his nest of blankets and into his clothes as quickly as he could. A phone call at this hour usually meant that Sarah would be dashing out the door in two minutes and coming home very, very late.  
  
****  
  
"No, the shipment cannot wait another week." Sarah was pacing across the kitchen floor, phone in one hand, coffee in the other. Toby soundlessly made his way across the kitchen floor, looking enviously at Merlin Junior, the ever patient Old English sheepdog of the house, who was still snoozing on the rug, oblivious to the din. Sarah turned again, nodded at her brother, and continued her tirade.  
  
Toby pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter and plugged in the toaster. Two slices plus peanut butter would be more than enough to deter Aunt Kaye and her mushy, cold cereal. He jammed them in and began his customary summer morning ritual of staring doggedly into the side of the toaster to see if he could figure out what the blurry shapes in the chromium surface might be reflections of. Maybe someday he'd find Waldo.  
  
"Well if he can't do the job, then fire him!" Sarah's coffee mug crashed down against the counter top. Lukewarm coffee splashed over the rim, turning MJ's fluffy, white tail a nice shade of tan. Toby snickered from behind the toaster. "Oh, no," Sarah looked down at her dog, unwittingly letting out a very unprofessional giggle. "Oh, no, oh- that's it. Mark, talk to me at the office. We'll squeeze in a meeting, OK? Fine. Sure."  
  
Sarah shut off the cel-phone with a sigh. "Oh, Merlin," she murmured, snatching up a dishcloth to dab at his discolored fur. "I'm sorry." MJ, like his predecessor, Merlin I, never exactly talked, but had his own little ways of communication. In this case, he grabbed the end of the dishcloth as soon as Sarah was finished and played a ten-second game of tug-o-war with her, just to show he was fine.  
  
"Goodmo-o-o-o-rning!" rang a matronly voice from the master bedroom. Aunt Kaye, decked out in her famous Daisy-patch bathrobe, swept into the kitchen with spectacles in one hand and Toby's slippers in the other. "Honestly, dear," she fussed, depositing the slippers next to the toaster, "I don't see why you have slippers at all if you never wear them." Toby braced himself for the oncoming tirade concerning lack of proper footwear on frosty August mornings when influenza was running rampant through the country and would pose a particularly venomous threat to the entire family's "delicate constitution". It never came.  
  
"I'll be home late tonight, Kaye," Sarah hurriedly scooped up her briefcase and gulped down the last of her coffee as she made her way towards the door. The elder woman's face puckered disapprovingly.  
  
"Another late night in the office? Really, I'm beginning to wonder if you get enough sleep at nights, dear. It's not even six o'clock and you're rushing out the door like a demon already. What kind of employer makes his workers stay up all night to the point where they blunder about like zombie-things in the morning?"  
  
Kaye poured out a glass of milk for Toby and watched her niece pause by the alcove mirror. "At least you've had breakfast?"  
  
Sarah sighed inwardly. She knew her aunt meant well, but financial security wasn't built on good intentions. "If I want the promotion coming around next month, I'm going to have to beat out my competitors, Kaye. Once I get through this week, I'll be able to take it easy for a while, maybe even take that vacation." Carefully, Sarah caught up her long, dark, hair and twisted it up into a coil before jamming in a multitude of hairpins to keep it out of her way. She scrutinized herself carefully in the mirror's depths. "I had a huge dinner last night with the chairman of PrimusTech anyway."  
  
Kaye had heard the excuse before, but decided to let the subject drop. For a young person, Sarah was quite good at taking care of herself. All the bills were always paid, the house and car were in tolerable condition, and the money in Toby's college fund had doubled since the last year. She always dressed nicely without spending too much and was never late for anything. Still, Kaye wished that Sarah weren't quite so good at her work. She was always hunting down every opportunity she could find to move up to a higher position, which meant late nights, missed meals, and the incessant ringing of that blasted cel-phone.  
  
"Have a nice day, dear." she sighed, turning back towards the kitchen. Sarah nodded absently as she shoveled a pair of folders into her briefcase.  
  
"Sarah?" Toby was watching her worriedly over the toaster. She paused. Her insides rumbled uncomfortably.  
  
"Yes?" She knew the look on his face, knew he wanted her to stay home today, eat breakfast with them, anything for a couple of minutes without work or worry or-  
  
"Have a nice day, Sarah."  
  
Sarah closed the briefcase carefully, and gave Toby a tired smile. "You too, Toby"  
  
Letting out a few cheery goodbyes, she left the house and climbed into the car, but her stomach was lurching from the lack of solid food and a major attack of guilt. When with family, she always talked of success as though it were just around the corner, but in the five years since her parents' deaths, that corner seemed to be getting farther and farther away.  
  
Sarah started the car.  
  
Toby chomped toast as he watched the distorted reflections swirl in the chrome world of the toaster. The blobs on the left were the trees in the front yard, and the bulgy blue shape was Sarah backing down the driveway. He let himself drift in thought as Aunt Kaye turned on the dishwasher. Suddenly, a white shape streaked over the shiny surface after Sarah's car. Mystified, Toby turned towards the window just in time to catch a glimpse of the soundless white barn owl soaring elegantly towards the highway.  
  
"What are you staring at, Toby?" Kaye peered out of the window. "Are there raccoons trying to get into the garbage cans again?"  
  
"Nothing, Aunt Kaye," he muttered, turning back to his toast. "Just an old owl."  
  
****  
  
"Fax preliminary sales reports to Manchester, Vancouver, and Toronto within the hour, no excuses."  
  
"V.P. of PrimusTech wants to do lunch. He's got a window from noon to 12:37."  
  
"Addams on 31 needs preliminaries for the Teller ad campaign. I don't care if they don't like the new version. It's too late to change it unless they want to spend a few thousand more on deadline extensions."  
  
"Miss Williams? Miss Williams!" Sarah snapped from her reverie with a jerk. Roger Clifton, one the more friendly pencil-pushers on her floor, was standing in front of her desk with a sheaf of papers in one hand and a box of donuts in the other. He looked a bit concerned. "You okay, Sarah? That cel-phone's been glued to the side of your head for the past three hours, and I don't know how long an ear can last without sunlight or oxygen." Sarah smiled in spite of herself.  
  
"I'm fine, Rog. Really." He set the reports down on her desk and plunked the pink bakery box down on top of them.  
  
"You can't fool me, Miss Williams. I can scent a corporate vulture who hasn't had her breakfast from twenty miles away. You, Miss Williams, are in dire need of a bear claw." Without waiting for her to say yes, he whipped out a napkin, fished a sticky, apple-filled pastry from the box, and plonked it down in front of her. Sarah eyed the sugary monstrosity a bit warily.  
  
"Thanks Roger," she said, carefully moving the bear claw off to one side. She picked up the reports and began to leaf through them. "You know, these reports weren't due for a week. You really didn't need to get them to me so early."  
  
"I know." Roger picked up the donut box again. "I figured since they were done, and I had donuts, and it really wasn't much of a walk . . . would you like to have dinner sometime?"  
  
Sarah blinked. "What?"  
  
"You know, with me. I don't think I could afford Spago's or anyplace like that, but my brother, Simon, works at this nice little Italian place right next to- "  
  
"I'm sorry," she cut him off. Little voices in her head were urging her to accept, but she fought them off. "I'd love to- really, but I . . . I. . ." She drew a deep breath. "You're funny, and you're sweet, and you're one of the nicest guys I know . . "  
  
"But. . .?"  
  
"I just don't think I'll have the time. I mean, I've got all this work piled up and my schedule's insane- " Sarah fumbled with the papers in her hands.  
  
"It's okay, Miss Williams," Roger took the papers from her and set them down neatly. "I'm really pretty good at rejection."  
  
"Roger, please don't take this the wrong way. My life's a mess right now, and a social life is the last thing on my agenda."  
  
"Right. Feeding the dependents comes first. Perfectly understandable. You don't have to make excuses, Miss Williams. I've got my baby sister's tuition to worry over myself."  
  
"Maybe next month, when things settle down, we can get together. . ."  
  
"Of course." He patted the box in his hands. "I think I'd better get this back to the break room before it's missed. Thank you for the enlightening conference, Miss Williams." A last smile, and he disappeared amidst the cubicles.  
  
Sarah buried her head in her hands. Her stomach was beginning to twinge again. She caught sight of the bear claw, still sitting on top of a mountain of folders, messages, and memos. Gingerly, she picked it up and took a bite. Not bad. Feeling a bit better, she ate the rest of the donut, and started going through Roger's reports.  
  
****  
  
"Toby?" Aunt Kaye called from the kitchen. 'Toby?"  
  
"Coming!" Toby abandoned the model plane he'd been assembling on the coffee table and hurried into the kitchen. "Yes?"  
  
Kaye turned off the gurgling dishwasher. "I'm taking the bus to town to do some shopping this afternoon. Is there anything you need, dear, like toothpaste or socks?"  
  
"Toothpaste and model glue," he answered promptly.  
  
"Model glue," she repeated, amused. "I think we still have a tube or two in the upstairs hall closet. Why don't you go check up there first?" 


	2. Chapter 2

*******

Aargh.  In my attempts to reformat this story for the site, I've accidentally deleted an entire two chapters of previously unposted material.  And of course, the formatting's all gone to #$%!  Until I manage to find a way to retrieve it, or rewrite it, I'll have to leave you hanging.

*******

Chapter Two

            Coffee break, ten o'-clock. 

            Lunch hour, quick meeting, two'-clock, three. 

            "Sarah?"  Sarah raised her straining eyes from the report in front of her to focus on the face of Angela Guido, the occupant of the office next to hers.  She blinked a few times to clear her head.  Angie was nice, but as gossipy as they came.  Desperate to avoid a dissertation on romance in accounting, she tried to think of some excuse to ask her to leave.

            "Mmm?" was all she could manage out.  

            "David Birnam's due on the floor in ten minutes."  Angie expected a reaction, but Sarah shook her head.  The name wasn't familiar.  "You know, David Birnam?  Our revered CEO's dear nephew who's coming on board as a VP today?"  Sarah stared at her blankly.  Angela clucked he tongue in disapproval.  "Gal, you've been working too hard."

            "So he's got clout,"  Sarah shrugged.  

            "More importantly, he's single."  

            Sarah's eyebrows went up.  "You don't seriously think that throwing yourself at the Old Man Birnam's freckle-faced little nephew is going to get you into upper management, do you?"  Angela smiled.  "Oh, grow up."

            The smile turned into a frown.  "Just because-"

            A knock on the door interrupted them.  "Excuse me, ladies."  A dark-haired man in his thirties stood in the doorway, very well dressed and carrying a sleek-looking attaché case.  He was an executive, obviously, and radiated power like a heat lamp.  And, in Sarah's humble opinion, he was also drop-dead gorgeous.  "Miss Williams?" he inquired, looking to Sarah.

            She nodded, trying to remember to breathe.  His hard gray eyes met hers, glowing with a cold, almost electric intensity.  He held out his hand.  "David Birnam, new vice-president of Agate Technical."  

            "I don't see any freckles," Angie whispered smugly, but Sarah ignored her and shook his hand calmly.

            "Sarah Williams, Assistant Regional Manager."  He smiled, a perfect, engaging smile.  

            "It's a pleasure, Miss Williams.  I've been wanting to meet with you for quite some time."

            Sarah could feel herself blushing.  She was so completely rapt, she didn't notice the white owl outside her window, beating frantically against the glass.

****

            Toby fished an unopened three-pack of model glue out of the third shoebox of junk.  "Aunt Kaye?!" he hollered downstairs.  "I found my glue!"

            "You don't need to shout, dear," came the reply.  "I'll be leaving now if you don't need anything else."  Toby leaned over the banister.

            "I'm fine!"

            Aunt Kaye was pulling on her shoes.  "All right, then.  I should only be out a few hours, but remember to call Sarah if something happens.  The Petersons are still on vacation."

            "Okay."  He headed back into the hall.

            "Goodbye dear."  Toby heard the door open and shut.  He picked up the glue and stuffed the shoebox back onto the closet shelf.  It creaked like an unoiled door hinge, then settled beneath the weight.  

            Toby was about to close the closet door, but something caught his eye.  There was something was stuck in the gap that the end of the shelf made against the wall.  Setting down his glue, he went back in to investigate.  It looked to be some sort of spiral notebook, probably slipped out of one of the packing boxes.  He took the exposed corner, braced his foot against the door frame, and jerked.

            Surprisingly,  it came loose easily.  The cover was torn and the pages were yellowing, but it was still in one piece.  It was a sketchpad, Sarah's obviously.  Curious, he took it back to his room, flopped down on the bed, and began to flip through it.

            The pictures were mostly rough sketches, some jumbled, some torn out completely from frustration, but most still in pretty good shape.  He recognized Mom and Dad immediately, as well as few of himself and MJ as a puppy.  A few weird angled views of the house came next, followed by a long set of drawings of Sarah's first boyfriend, Ike. He skipped through that section hurriedly.

            A funny cartoon worm popped up, followed by a couple of nicely colored pictures of a dwarf, the one from the old bookend Dad gave her.  A monster straight out of _Where the Wild Things Are_ was next, and then a strange assortment of goblin-type creatures, including an old man with a bird on his head.  

            He recognized the next figure with a great deal of amusement.  It was Sir Didymus, one of  Sarah's favorite toys, in a ridiculous pose of chivalry atop MJ, or perhaps the original Merlin.  He glanced up at the stuffed original, now spending his days on Toby's bookcase with Lancelot and a box of Tinkertoys.  He turned the page.

            The last picture was a portrait of a long-haired guy who looked straight out of a fantasy-romance novel.  Ruffled shirt, gloves, everything.  He looked vaguely familiar, like some combination of an 80s glam rocker and his stepmom's old boyfriend.  Jerome, or something. Well, whoever he was, he must've been pretty important to Sarah.  The sketch was inked over, colored with pencils, and cleaned up considerably.  "Weird," he muttered to himself.  He turned the back cover over, intending to close the sketchbook, but another page came loose instead.  

            Funny, he thought.  Must've been stuck.  

            This was a portrait as well, but a very different one from the picture of the blonde guy.  The lines were very neat, not at all sketchy, and the coloring was darker, more vibrant.  The subject had dark hair and was dressed in black.  He held a bow in one hand, and a mean looking barbed arrow in the other.  The expression on his face was arrogant, hard, and his eyes seemed to glare straight at Toby.  Unsettled,  he closed the sketchbook.  He didn't know why it bothered him, but something about the picture wasn't right.  Like it didn't belong there.

            Somewhere overhead, there was a dark sound of thunder.  

****

            "So tell me about the famous Aunt Kaye." David was smiling again.  That perfect smile.  Sarah hadn't been able to say no when he'd asked her out to dinner that night, and now the two of them were sitting across from each other at Merlot's, talking over seafood and antipasto.  Sarah took another sip of wine.    

              "Kaye's actually my stepmother's aunt. She came to live with us when Toby was six, and she's pretty much our only family now. We get along great, though.  No problems."

            "Good to hear.  A strong family's always an asset, especially in our line of work."  David put down his fork suddenly, and reached over for his attaché case.  "Which brings me to the real reason I came to see you today."  He pulled out a small packet of papers and handed them across the table to Sarah.

            "This can't be right," she scanned through the paperwork.  A smile spread across her face.  "Regional Manager of the Northeast District?  You're giving _me_ the promotion?"

            "Waverly's retiring in a month, so the position's up for grabs.  And nobody deserves it more than you, Sarah.  You'll note the increased benefits and the sizeable bonus."  

            "And the schedule."  Sarah's smile faded a bit as she took in the details of her new position.  The workload was about the same, but there was a large amount of time she'd have to spend on the road, starting with. . . "You want me in New York next Thursday?" 

            David picked up his glass.  "That's this Thursday, Sarah.  It's nothing much, just various client meetings and a round of golf."  He watched her worried expression intently.  "What's the matter?  I thought this was what you wanted."

            Sarah tensed, and almost considered handing the packet back to him.  But this was the opportunity of a lifetime, a real chance at success.  Throwing it away over a few weeks on the road would be ridiculous, childish.  "It is," she said, forcing herself to look cheerful.  "And I can't thank you enough for this, David.  I really can't."

            "Good," he picked up his wine glass, giving her a look that made her heart do somersaults.  "Here's to you, Sarah.  May you enjoy all the success you deserve."  Sarah raised her glass confidently, all trace of hesitation gone.

            "I'll drink to that."

****

            Five-thirty.  

            Aunt Kaye sat in the bus depot, fidgeting.  The bus had broken down some twenty miles away, and there would not be another for at least an hour.  It was already much later than the time she thought she'd get home, and the lines for the payphone were stretching around the corner.  "Bloody heck," she exclaimed to herself, as thunder rumbled above her.  "A storm on top of all of this."  With a sigh, she picked up her shopping and went to get a place in line.

****

            Six-thirty.  Toby watched MJ dozing peacefully on the rug, full, warm, and blissfully happy, despite the raging storm outside.  The wind was screaming along the street, making the house creak and groan, and he swore he'd heard some of the shingles fly off the roof.  The rain came in sudden waves.  It was light one minute, then a deluge of liquid the next.  The drops fell against the roof like ball bearings, beating out strange and wild rhythms.

            Toby was worried.  He'd already eaten a sandwich, but Aunt Kaye always made sure she was back before dinner.  She was never, ever this late in getting home.  He glanced up at the clock, and then drew the blinds.  The storm probably had something to do with all this.  Still, he'd better call Sarah and let her know.  

            He hurried into the kitchen, picked up the receiver, and dialed his sister's cel-phone number.

****

            BRRR-EEEEP!

            "Tobs?  Is that you?"  Sarah was more than a little annoyed.  The evening was going wonderfully, and she didn't want it to be interrupted.  David was reading over some report or other, clearly preoccupied.

            "Sarah, Aunt Kaye's not home yet.  It's nearly seven and there's a really freaky storm hitting the neighborhood."  

            "Are you okay?  Have you eaten?"

            "Yeah, I'm fine.  MJ too.  But it's really wild out there.  When are you coming home?"

            "Not for a while, Toby." She let herself sound more than a little impatient.  "I've got good news, though.  I got that promotion."  A pause.  Then an excited whoop of joy.

            "Really?!  That's awesome!  Does this mean we can go on vacation now?"  Sarah winced inwardly.  She remembered she'd promised Toby they'd go on vacation this summer, a vacation she'd been delaying since last December.  

            "Um, no."  She tried to sound upbeat.  "I've got to take a business trip in a few days, and it looks like I'll have a full schedule for a few more months."

            "Oh."  There was no mistaking the disappointment in her brother's voice.  "I guess your promotion means you've gotta work harder, doesn't it?"  It wasn't a question.

            Sarah tried to let the remark slide.  "Just for a little while."

            "Sure.  A little while.  That's what you said after your _last_ promotion."

            "Toby-"

            "This bites, Sarah. I thought you said the only reason you wanted a higher position was because you wanted to work _less_, not _more_."  

            "Toby, it doesn't work that way!" Sarah was starting to lose her temper.  David looked up at her, concerned.  She lowered her voice.  "I don't want to argue about this now, Toby.  I'm very busy and I have to get back to my meeting.  Just lock the doors and stay out of trouble until Aunt Kaye comes home.  Can you do that?"

            "Yes, but-"

            "Good.  I'll see you tonight."  She hit the off button and turned off the ringer.  

****

            "Fine!"  Toby yelled into the dial tone, and slammed down the receiver.  In the living room, MJ raised a sleepy head and whined in befuddlement.  Toby's fury vanished.  "It's okay, buddy," he called softly. "Go back to sleep."  MJ yawned and complied.

            Toby locked the doors, pulled the drapes, and turned off all the lights except for the one on the porch and the little lamp in the living room.  Then, he went to his room and flopped down on the bed, disgusted.  "Work, work, work," he said to Lancelot.  "That's all she ever does anymore."  He noticed the sketchbook still sitting on his bedspread, and kicked it to the floor.  "Sometimes I wonder if that's all she cares about."

****    

            "It's no good," the ticket seller told Aunt Kaye.  "I just got word that the bridge went out in Middlebury.  There won't be another bus 'til morning at this rate."  Aunt Kaye thanked him and went back to her bags, greatly distressed.  She'd almost made it to the payphones, but the wind had knocked the wiring loose somewhere and the whole line had gone dead.

            "I do hope you and Sarah are all right, Toby," she sighed, pulling a tub of ice cream out of one of her bags.  "Oh well.  I might as well take care of this before it all melts." 

****

            "Your brother?" David asked kindly.  Sarah tried to look as if nothing had happened, but she felt tired, upset, and more than a little angry.

            "He's just upset about the business trip, that's all.  I should've expected that he wouldn't understand.  It's nothing to worry over, really."

            "Kids are naturally a handful, Sarah.  You shouldn't blame yourself."

            "But he's my responsibility.  Aunt Kaye is in her fifties.  I can't really ask her to go chasing after a teenager in a few years.  I'll have to handle it myself."

            David nodded sympathetically.  "It can't be easy playing the primary caregiver."

              "Sometimes I wish he could be someone else's problem.  Sometimes I wish I didn't have to deal with him.  Sometimes. . ." She sighed in frustration.  

            "Sometimes?"  David was leaning in closer to hear her.

            "Sometimes. . . I wish the goblins would take him away.  Like right now."  

            The words were out of her mouth before she realized it, and seemed to hang in the air before her, leaden, as their meaning slowly sunk in. 

            David looked at her, concerned.  "Are you all right, Sarah?  You look as though you've seen a ghost."

            A streak of lightning tore the night sky.

            Sarah's blood ran cold.  "I didn't mean it," she whispered frantically.  "I take it back.  I didn't mean it!"  But it was far too late for that.  Somewhere, very close by, a goblin was laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

            The rain flooded down on the congested highway, on the immobile cars, on Sarah. 

She had rushed out of the restaurant over an hour ago, with only the barest of apologies to David. He'd been skeptical of her excuses, but she hadn't cared. All thoughts of work were suddenly trivial, unimportant. She just knew she had to get home.

            The traffic was agonizingly slow, made worse by the unrelenting rain. Sarah's worry seemed to grow as the visibility lessened. Over and over again, she heard herself say those careless words: "I wish the goblins would take him away. . ."

            "I didn't mean it," she repeated, to no one in particular. But she'd been tired, frustrated, and she had meant it at the time. 

            And she knew it.

            What's said is said, whispered a voice inside her head.

            The cars in front of her began to move at last, and Sarah quickly drove the rest of the way home, heart quickening as she reached her own driveway. It was still pouring as she got out of the car, and Sarah dashed for the safety of the porch. A howling, fluffy shape was waiting for her.

            "MJ?" The dog nuzzled her happily, whining to be let inside. Sarah patted him distractedly as she searched for her keys. Her heartbeat quickened. Toby would never forget MJ, especially not on a night like this. She unlocked the door. 

            "Toby!" Sarah hurried inside, kicking off her damp shoes and abandoning her soggy briefcase. 'Toby, answer me!" A crack of thunder sounded overhead, and the wind began to roar. "Toby!" Her fingers flicked the light switch, but nothing happened. The electricity had gone out.

            She ran to his room, trying to stay calm. Maybe he'd just fallen asleep with his headphones on. Maybe he'd-

            She opened the door, letting it swing wide. 

            The room was empty.

            Well, not quite empty. The windows were open, and a cold wind was streaming through, rifling the pages of the sketchbook on her brother's bed. Slowly, she walked forward and picked it up, revealing the gleaming object beneath it, nestled in the folds of the bedspread.

            It was a crystal, nothing more.

****    

            Sarah's mind was reeling. She backed away, trying not to see what she was seeing. Her conversation with Toby came back to her. Aunt Kaye hadn't come home, the storm had hit. . . 

            I should've been here, Sarah thought miserably. Memories she hadn't thought about in nearly ten years flooded her head. Call the police, her mind said sensibly. And tell them what? Her brother had been kidnapped by a troupe of little green goblins whose leader was the omnipotent ruler of an otherworldly funhouse maze? She laughed, bitterly.

            "Goblin King, Goblin King," Sarah chanted in a singsong tone. There was no answer save the muttering wind. "Show yourself, you coward!" she yelled into the darkness. "I beat you once. I'll do it again!"

             Suddenly cold, Sarah backed into the hallway, and retrieved her old walking shoes from the closet. If the story went the way it was supposed to, she didn't want to be barefoot when the next chapter came.

            A sudden rustling filled the air. Birds' wings. Owls' wings.

            Sarah's heart instantly froze, as a fluttering shadow passed over the open window she hadn't bothered to shut. "I'll do it again," she whispered. Any second now, the owl would fly into the room, and he would come with it. Sarah forced herself to stay calm, breathing very slowly. The shadow passed over once more.

            And then the arrow shot by her face, lightning quick, and embedded itself in the wall behind her. It caught her off guard so completely, she could only stare at the gleaming thing in shock. The shaft was jet black, and feathered with a raven's plumage. At the end was a tiny, sculpted goblin's claw, which clutched the dull, heavy, arrowhead. 

            Sarah touched it gingerly. Nothing. Heart pounding, she closed her hand around it and pulled. The tiny goblin's claw let go of the arrowhead, letting the shaft fall away into her hand. The rain had stopped at last, and the clouds were parting to reveal a bright crescent of moon. In the dim light, Sarah could see the silver writing on the obsidian shaft, almost glowing in her hand: YOU HAVE THIRTEEN HOURS, SARAH. 

            With a gasp, she dropped it. She was scared, really and truly, for the first time in years. She didn't know how to deal with this. She couldn't take it all in. The wind picked up again, howling through the sky. Shadows raced along the ground with the swirling clouds. And wings. The owl was coming back. "No!" Sarah whirled about as the bird approached, dark against the moonlight. She grabbed the crystal off Toby's bed and turned, intending to hurl it at the creature, and blinked for a fraction of a second and - 

            Silence. 

            Sarah was standing on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere, the crystal still heavy in her hand. A twisting, turning mass of walls and pillars and trees and hedges, and who knew what else spread over the landscape below her. The towers of a castle stood out above the horizon, very small and very far away. 

            "Thirteen hours," Sarah repeated to herself. She glanced backwards to the grove of gnarled trees, but the Goblin King did not appear. "You didn't even come to see me off," she said to the empty air, almost a little disappointed. She looked at the crystal sphere, and then, thoughtfully, slipped it into her coat pocket.      

            Something was different here. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but the 

Goblin King was certainly not acting the way she remembered. No show of power, no threats, no bargaining. Perhaps he'd changed over the past twelve years. Sarah certainly had.

            Of course, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. 

            She started walking, ignoring the deja vu and the nagging voice of reason which kept telling her that this wasn't happening.  She only had thirteen hours, after all, and the labyrinth was waiting. 

****

            Toby.

            Toby had no idea where he was. He woke up in the middle of some sort of . . . alleyway. At least that was as close as he could figure. Slowly, he got to his feet, dusting off his shirt, and looked around.

            A very long alleyway. "I've gotta be asleep," he mumbled to himself. The sky was the wrong color, a strange, tawny yellow, and even the air felt different. He backed up against one wall, and craned his neck to see over the top of the other. All he could make out was some sort of castle over the next few ridges, and a whole lot more alleyway. "Great," he sighed. "I'm stuck in the Twilight Zone."

            "'Allo." Toby, startled, jumped back away from the wall. 

            "What? Who-" A little pink and yellow worm was watching him curiously from a crack in the wall. She had green hair and was wearing a tiny pink sunbonnet. "Did-did you just say 'hello'?"

            The Worm blinked. "No. I said, ''Allo.' But it's nearly the same, so I don't think it matters much." Toby nodded, deciding she was friendly.

            "If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me where I am?"

            "You're standing across from my house. Would you like to come in and meet me mum and dad? We'll be 'aving tea shortly. I'm sure they wouldn't mind the company."

            "No. Thanks, really, but I meant if you knew what this whole place was called."

            "Oh. Well, it's the Labyrinth, isn't it? It's very big, so I don't think about it all at once very much. We used to live clear over on the other side, but we had to move here after a fiery made off with our wall. Mum said she hadn't the faintest idea of what he'd do with it, but he took it."

            "Labyrinth," Toby repeated. "That's a maze, right?"

            "I think so, yes."

            "Then I guess I have to get through it." He stared at the endless walls stretching out in either direction. "At least, I think that's what I'm supposed to do."

            "Weren't you given any instructions?"

            "Not that I can remember." Toby squinted towards the hazy mountains on the horizon, and then looked back at the castle. "I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to be trying to get into the Labyrinth or out of it."

            "Hmmm. Well, 'most everybody I talk to wants to go to that castle over there." 

The little worm inclined her head towards the towering edifice off in the distance. "It's quite a long walk, and I've never been there, but they say it's a very interesting place."

            "I guess that's where I'm headed too, then." Toby turned to thank the worm, but he thought of something else. "Would you like to come with me?" he asked. 

            Her little eyes widened. "Really? Oh, I'd love to! I always did want to see it, but it would've been such a long trip. But it wouldn't be nearly as long if I went with a big person, would it? And Mum and Dad wouldn't have to bother about getting days off to come with me, and I could be there and back in only about a day or two." 

            "So you'll come with me?"

            "Wait right here! I'll go in and ask." She turned, and vanished into the crumbling wall.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

            Sarah vaguely remembered the garden outside the Labyrinth's walls as being a rather dusty, unkempt place. The plants had been scraggly, the trees especially, and little faerie pests had been everywhere. If nothing else, she was sure there had only been one caretaker: Hoggle.

            The garden was certainly different now, but Sarah couldn't say if it was for better or for worse. Droves of dwarfs and gaggles of goblins were scurrying about her feet, raking and watering rows of neatly manicured flowerbeds and fruit trees. But despite care, the flowers were thorny and their blossoms were as black as ink. The trees were in a similar condition, all twisted and misshapen. At first, Sarah thought they'd been burned, perhaps, but every leaf had a glossy sheen, and they all looked healthy, despite their color. It was as if the whole garden had sprouted from cast-iron seeds.

            "Quit your jabberin', you little rat! I'm going! I'm going!" A diminutive figure trudged into view with a rake in one hand and a watering can in the other.

            "Hoggle!" Sarah rushed to meet him, bowling over a squat little gnome with a pair of clippers in her hurry. The dwarf dropped his rake in astonishment.

            "Sarah? Sarah!" She bent down to hug him. The dwarf was older and scruffier, but evidently still as gruff. "Enough of that," he said with a grin. "What are you doing back here? It has been a while, as I recall." 

            "Oh, the Goblin King made off with Toby. I made that stupid wish again and 

Jareth-"

            "Jareth?" The dwarf suddenly looked concerned. "You mean you don't know?"

            "Know what?"

            "We're under new management, so to speak. Why do you think I've got all these idiots running about, ruining my garden? Some other maniac took over years ago. Nobody's seen Jareth since the Bog of Eternal Stench dried up. Good riddance."

            Sarah considered. "So he's gone. You mean. . .really gone?" The notion was unthinkable. The Labyrinth without the Goblin King just wasn't right.

            "Gone. Disappeared. Not even a farewell to his cohorts." He nodded to the ranks of bungling goblins. "He was there one day, and the next, poof! Some young fool calling himself the Archer is running things."

            "The Archer. Well, that would explain the arrow, but- "

            "At first I thought he'd be an improvement, but then he went and started changing things. He moved everything around, confused everybody. Did you know he had the entire Goblin City rebuilt because he didn't like the color? And the birds. Worst pests in the world. Jackdaws, crows, rooks, ravens! They're worse than faeries!" Suddenly, Hoggle stopped talking and looked nervously at the sky. "Not that it's any bother!" he said, very loudly, as if someone was watching him from far away.

            Sarah watched him worriedly. "No," she said quietly. "He doesn't sound like much of an improvement at all." Hoggle looked back to Sarah, leaned a bit closer, and continued to talk in a whisper.

            "I tend to forget myself. Not too healthy, you understand. He may be bothersome, but he is the new Goblin King. There's a certain degree of power that comes with that."

            "Listen, Hoggle," Sarah tried to steer the conversation back her way. "I've got to get through the Labyrinth again. Archer or no Archer, I've got to get Toby back. If you don't want to come with me, I'll understand, but do you know where I can find Ludo or

Sir Didymus?"

            "Not come with you?" Hoggle stood up indignantly. "Who said I weren't coming with you? I've been knocking about this garden for ages, bored as a biddle-bug. Of course I'm coming with you."

            "Thank you." Happily, she hugged him again. He wriggled from her grasp like an exasperated five-year-old.

            "All right, all right. I'll go get a few things for the trip. Wait here, eh?"

            "Okay." She watched him hurry off into the distance, presumably back home for provisions. Where did dwarfs live anyway?

            "Sarah!" She whirled about to see a tall figure emerge from the grove she'd just left. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who it was. But it was impossible. It couldn't be.

            David, still clutching his attache case, was running down the path to meet her.

****

            "What's your name?" Toby asked the little worm. She was perched on his shoulder with a little flask of tea and a tin of biscuits her parents had insisted she bring with her. Toby was trying to focus on the road ahead, which was becoming mind-numbingly repetitive. It seemed they passed the same cracked wall and patch of moss at every twenty feet. 

            "Missy, I think."

            "You think?"

            "Whenever me dad talks to me, he always starts off by saying, 'Now listen here, Young Missy.' I guess it's just Missy. What's yours?"

            "Tobias Frederick Williams. Just call me Toby." 

            "Toby." Missy repeated, suddenly becoming thoughtful. "You know, I do believe I've heard that name somewhere before. My dad used to tell me these stories. . ."

            "Whoa!" Toby stopped short in the middle of the road. The path ahead of them had forked suddenly, dividing into two different routes. One broke away from the main road, and twisted into the depths of a gray mist. The other went straight on ahead, into a rather wooded area. Toby looked to the little worm. "Well, Missy? Do you know which way we're supposed to go?"

            Missy looked down one path, then the other, obviously confused. "Hmmmm. Let me think a minute."

            "Hey funny headies!" A voice boomed out from the woods. "Lookit what we got heah!" Toby jumped, nearly falling over, as a fierce-looking red and yellow creature dropped down in front of him. It was the wildest looking thing he'd ever seen, with a long snout, chihuahua ears, a pom-pom tail and googly eyes. "Yaaaaaah!" the creature screamed at Toby.

            "Yaaaaaah!" Toby answered, scrambling backwards. "What-What- Who-?"

            "Oh no," sighed Missy from his shoulder. "It's a fiery!"

            "A fiery?" Toby glanced over the strange little beast, who definitely seemed to have some flame-like qualities. He was bouncing up and down like a hyperactive bullfrog.

            "Wro-o-o-ong!" giggled the fiery. "Very wrong, leetle lady. Not just one fiery." As if one cue, a dozen similar creatures dropped down from the trees to join their cousin. "Lotsa Lotsa fierys!" he shrieked happily.

            "Lotsa lotsa! Lotsa lotsa!" echoed his cohorts happily. 

            "Chilly down now!" The leader whooped. Toby blinked in amazement as the fierys began to dance wildly about them, their limbs and heads disconnecting and reconnecting to their bodies. 

Wild hoots of song filled the air as the fierys started trading heads with each other. Arms and legs were swapped and re-swapped, making some of the strange little beasts look stranger still. When a six-legged, two headed fiery started doing pirouettes, Missy urgently began to tug on Toby's ear.

            "We've got to get out of here, Toby," she whispered, "before they decide they want to switch heads with us too!" Toby nodded agreement, and started to quietly edge backwards towards the fork in the road. The fierys paid no heed, being too caught up in their own revelry to pay attention to their trespassers.

            Toby caught a last glance of red and yellow heads bouncing up and down, as he and Missy hurried down the other marshy path, into the mist.

****

            "Sarah?" David paused at the edge of the garden, huffing slightly from the walk. "Are you all right?" Hoggle hadn't returned yet, and Sarah was still in shock. She managed to move her lips.

            "I'm fine, David."

            "Do you mind telling me what all this. . ," he gesticulated randomly at his environs, ". . .what all this is?" He was clearly upset, and a little more indignant, Sarah thought, than he needed to be.

            "It's a long story."

            "I'll bet." His face was taut, as if he were under a great deal of strain. It gave him a rather sour expression. "You didn't seem to be in a good state when you left the restaurant, so I tried calling you when I got home. Both numbers. Since nobody answered either of them, I drove over to make sure you were all right. I found your door unlocked, your dog running around like a wild hyena, and now this.

            "Look," Sarah tried to stay calm, "I don't have the time to explain everything right now, but my brother's lost in here somewhere. I've got to find him."

            "You're not serious?" David's annoyance turned to incredulity. "You don't mean to tell me you're actually going in there." He gestured again to the labyrinth.

            "I've got to," she repeated stubbornly.

            David shook his head. "You're not thinking straight, Sarah. What are your chances of finding him in a place like this? That maze has to be the size of a small country. You'd be crazy to just wander around in there aimlessly all night." He paused, and then looked her straight in the eye, pinning her with his gaze. "Listen to me, Sarah. We are going to handle this situation like rational people. You and I are going back to your house. We are going to call the police, and they will find your brother, all right?"

            Sarah shook her head violently, and pulled away. "You don't understand. You don't- I have to stay here, David. It's got to be me that runs the Labyrinth. Me. Jareth or the Archer or whoever only gave me thirteen hours and- "

            "You're not making any sense."

            "That's because it doesn't make any sense!" Sarah felt her placidity slipping away. How could she explain it, any of it, to a man who only dealt in facts and figures? How could she possibly make him see? "It's just- It's just the way it's done." 

            David wasn't convinced. "You can believe whatever you want to, but I'm still going back and you're coming with me. There's no way I'm letting you pursue this madness any further than it's gone already."

            "No." Sarah replied, trying to sound as firm as possible.

            "Sarah-" David tried to grab her arm, but she jerked away. 

            "Stay away from me," she warned him, backing up towards the Labyrinth's outer wall. "You can go back if you want, but I'm going after Toby with or without your help." 

            David, exasperated, shook his head. "I thought you were a well-adjusted, sensible girl. I thought you were somebody to be counted on." His blue eyes glared at her, not with disappointment, but in accusation. "You're not what I expected."

            Sarah's emotions churned furiously. She wanted desperately to apologize, to make it up to him somehow. She couldn't afford to have David upset with her, no matter what the cost. She needed him.

            But Toby needed her.

            Sarah steeled herself, knowing the risk she was taking, and answered back calmly, 

"You're not what I expected either." Then, she turned around and ran in the direction she'd seen Hoggle go, ignoring David's vehement shouts behind her.


End file.
